I feel your pain. May I join your rant?
This year my flights have been international itineraries, always multiple segments like 8+. I have never been able to SDC or change my UA tickets online. For one change I was told it would only be possible with a ridiculous fare increase. After speaking to three agents I read to them the fare restrictions on the ticket and the part that allowed changes. The agent said she would escalate it but neither she nor her lead could force the change. I explained that nothing I was being told was reflected in the written fare terms. In fact, what they were saying contradicted the terms. (Before anyone asks the fare was available and I could have bought a new ticket for that fare but I was also told the ticket could not be canceled for credit because the remaining value would be recalculated and it would essentially be zero.) Overnight the change I had asked for was processed by someone.
For a number of years now I have been told that HND and NRT are not co-terminals, which I understand. However, I have had to argue that my ticket allows a break with overland travel in Japan (which ir does) so I can make a change and arrive NRT but depart HND as an example. They eventually force it through when I show them that section of the fare rules. But it is not easy. In fact, once last year I was told that only applies when you arrive in one city and depart from another, so it does not apply to HND and NRT- the system was not allowing the change, so it had to be against the fare rules. I asked to be shown where in the fare rules this was stipulated and was told it was not spelled out as such but UA has the final say in these matters. I asked so why bother with fare terms at all when everything is simply up to UA? Probably got a black mark in my record for that remark!
Where I have not been successful is TSA versus TPE. The ticket rules never address overland travel in Taiwan so you usually cannot arrive in TSA and depart from TPE. I guess it was not a common enough condition to be considered whenever the fare rules were written.
Complicated overseas travel on many segments used to be the strength of UA. Changing these tickets in the last two years has become a nightmare at times. Something is broken in their system, it's a shame. And very frustrating that agents just say the system is always right no matter what is written in the fare rules.
As for whether you had a real or fake GS agent? Are there such distinctions today or all they just Schrodinger's GS agents?
